Festival La Merce 2010

September brings with it the back to work, back to school, and this time round a pretty big drop in the temperatures. But fear not, as it's also time for some festivals and one of the best that the city has to offer - La Merçe.

Barcelona actually has a fair few patron Saints, one of them being Our Lady of Mercy, who celebrates her feast day on the 24th September. So in homage to their patron (and for any excuse for a bit of a shindig of course) Barcelona comes alive from the 18th to 26th September with open air concerts, workshops, circus, dances, markets, etc. etc. etc. You name it, La Merçe's got it. The whole city is involved and there are activities for young and old, dotted all the way around the city.

After living here for more than ten years, I've noticed (and have also mentioned before) that it really is the people of Barcelona's festival. Now, I know that might sound daft, but I mean that the difference between some of the city's other festivals like Sonar, Primavera Sound, Grec, and many others is that they have an international appeal and advertise themselves much more to the foreign (tourist) crowd. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that La Merçe doesn't offer just as much talent - not at all. What I mean is that the festival is hardly promoted outside of the city itself (not even in other parts of Catalonia) and for all the years I've been here, I've never once found a program in English (or Spanish for that matter). Full details need to be taken directly from here. Obviously being the modern age of mobiles and smart phones, you can sign up for free mobile updates, too.

Highlights include open days at Montjüic castle and the Frederic Mares museum (which will soon close for restoration work) as well as almost all your other museums on the 24th. There are also the ceremonial beasts on display which is worth a look if you're in the centre, as well as the always-hyped correfoc (fire run) which despite changes in European laws just seems to go out and do the same as always anyway! There also looks to be a tasty little show on the Friday at the Rambla del Raval, with "rices of the world" - different dishes from around the world will be prepared using rice and tasting from 13h to 15h! Mmmmmmm!!!



Guest city this year is Dakar, the Senegalese capital, and first sub-Saharian city to gain the honour of pairing for the week's activities. Expect dance, music, culture and traditions to bring a bit of African magic to this year's affairs. And especially some of the crazy African beats, from the likes of Ntapkeu de Bafia

So, looking forward to this year's Merçe? anything in particular caught your eye? Let me know in the comments! And if you're looking for accommodation in the city, apartments in Barcelona are a great money saver for families and friends!

Random Merce Photos 2009

Every year I try and see as much of La Merce as possible, and many times I've never taken a camera (I didn't blog in those days!). So this weekend, although I was fairly busy with work, I tried to get out and about and see some of the things I thought were new this year, and that the kids would like! If you want to see some great Barcelona photos, then check out Carlos Lorenzo's photoblog and in the meantime, here's a few from this weekend!



First ones are the Barcelona Giants. Ceremony dictates that the giants come out and dance in the Plaça Sant Jamue, and the weekend of La Merçe is a great weekend to see this (if you can squeeze through the crowds!).



For the rest of the weekend, the giants went back to Las Ramblas number 99, in the Institute of Culture building. This time however, there were some additions to the usual giants, and they were out of the glass cases on display for all to see.



There were some smaller horse models, dragons, lions, and a beast which apparently is the animal which is least known about in the history of the gegants. I thought that would merit a photo!



And the horses..


Barcelona Port also got in on the act with concerts on the stage near the markets opposite Columbus monument, and there were activities for children, old-style board games and a huge Jenga (which I think nobody knew what it was - I was dying to start the game!).



And probably the coolest thing I saw all weekend was parked outside the Maritime Museum. I think it was called the soundbox and is way cooler than the name suggests. If you look at the image, you can see metal meshing/sheeting underneath the blue frame. Inside the box, there were some speakers, probably a computer and some high-tech sensors. Everybody was just walking past it, but I sensed it must do something, so went for a closer look. The way it worked was if you touched any two of the metal parts (windows?) the box emitted a sound. And the sound was different if you used your whole hand, or just the tips of your fingers, or a combination of both. Sounds a bit daft, right? Well it was bloody cool, and as soon as I worked it out, loads of people came over as well and the box made loads of different funny noises !!



Did you see anything at this year's Merce? Let me know what you liked in the comments. And if you're coming to Barcelona soon, try these apartments for rent in Barcelona, which are right in the heart of the city.

La Merce 2009 - Barcelona's Festival Week

September is a great month in Barcelona. The Patron Saint (or one of them) Our Lady of Mercy has her feast day on the 24th September, and this is a great excuse to dust down some Catalan traditions and festival celebrations in a week-long party which involves the whole of the city.

According to the city website, this year celebrates 150 years since Ildefons Cerdà's plans for Eixample were approved, so expect some big goings on in Barcelona's biggest neighbourhood. Plaças and streets are filled with stages and open air concerts, and like other years, the festival embraces other cultures and countries, too. From the official site, it states that

"the Mercè likes to travel without leaving home. That is why this year it has invited Istanbul, which will be Europe’s Capital of Culture in 2010, to offer the people of Barcelona a taste of Turkish culture. And not only the most traditional elements, best represented perhaps by the whirling dance of the dervish Akin Çakmut (Maritime Museum), but also by the newest. Among other events, we will see an exhibition of contemporary artists from Barcelona and Istanbul (La Capella), we will hear the Eastern dub of the Baba Zula, a group that combines the purest oriental tradition with electronic sounds, and we will see the shadow theatre of Gengiz Ozek (Maritime Museum), a renovator of the tradition of what is called karagöz."

Expect the other fireworks displays, fire-runs (said to be under threat due to new EU regulations on the handling of fireworks for minors), dances and castellers, there's a circus up on Montjüic from the 24th to 27th, the Party in the Sky, as well as plenty of live events at the Greek Theatre, and music events all around the city centre. It's impossible to detail all of the events and highlights, especially as there may be some things I would prefer than other readers (like the Hives playing at the old Damm factory, or the magicians for my kids at the circus!) so you can read a full programme here. Unfortunately, like other years, the programme is only in Catalan - and I would pretty much bet that it stays that way. This is a very "local" festival, and whilst everyone is welcome to the celebrations, it's not greatly advertised around and translated into other languages, as other events are. Things kick off this weekend with the Marathon around the city centre, with many streets cut off temporarily during the morning and lunch hour, so if you're thinking of coming in the car, don't!

Coming to Barcelona for La Merçe? Leave a comment and tell us whet you'll be looking forward to seeing! I'd love to hear from you. And if you're still stuck for a place to stay, try these apartments for rent in Barcelona.

La Merce Festival - 24th September

September sees the dreaded return to work of most people, back to school and college and the end of the summer to an extent (although the weather is usually still sunny, just cooler which is a welcome break!). However, September also has a couple of holidays to make the return back not too hard. September 11th is "La Diada" or the Day of Catalan nationalism. This is always a public holiday (well, since 1980), and a good little break, as it's an excuse to nip down to Barceloneta for a Paella.

However by far the biggest celebration in the second half of the year, is the festival week celebrating one of the Patron saints of Barcelona, Our Lady of Mercy - La Merçe. This week long festival embraces the city, and it still very much the people's festival. It is hardly advertised outside Barcelona itself (not even in other parts of Catalunya) and every year the programmes are only printed in Catalan and Spanish (never English) - perhaps another indication of why they want to keep it as exclusive as possible. Events happen all over the city, and "plaças" fill with stages and podiums, bunting and portaloos, and it really is a great time to see some great free concerts. In recent years bands like Travis have performed - in the old Damm factory - for free, and other international as well as local bands and musicians like Jamie Cullum, for example.

The festival also features the always-spectacular human towers we are so used to seeing in other fairs and festivals and there is the fantastic "correfoc" or fire-run, where fire-breathing dragons run through the streets of the Gothic Quarter at night.

So far details are sketchy for the line-ups, so I may well post again closer to the date but early indications seem to suggest another great year with bands such as Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Kinky Beat and a few others all ready to join in the fun.

Families and friends fortunate enough to co-incide with this week of festivities will not be disappointed, and it's always wise to book Barcelona Accommodation well in advance.